Obama right on deportation policy

In "Hoping for Reprieve: Md. immigrants await new policy" (Nov. 19), The Sun reports a statement made by Republican Rep. Andy Harris that "If the president doesn't like the current law, he should have … worked with Congress to change it, not doing yet another unconstitutional end run around our immigration law."

As the congressman knows or at least should know, the Constitution (Article II, Section 3) assigns responsibility for the execution of federal law (and, implicitly, for setting prosecutorial priorities) to the executive branch of government, which the president leads. Directing prosecutors to focus their deportation efforts on immigrants who have committed crimes or pose a security threat is not only legitimately within the scope of presidential power (and thus, constitutional), it's a common sense approach to a difficult problem.

Last week, a Garrett County resident testified in Annapolis that Maryland should proceed with fracking, the dangerous industrial practice recently banned in New York. He claimed that Western Maryland needs the jobs. I ask, what jobs?

If Americans and political leaders honestly care to lower heroin addiction rates ("War on heroin starts with teens," Feb. 27 and "Hogan creates two panels for fight against heroin," Feb. 25), they should end cannabis (marijuana) prohibition.

I have no sympathy for Derrick Jones and other employees at The Baltimore City Detention Center who allowed themselves to be corrupted by the Black Guerrilla Family ("Jail supervisor, National Guardsman sentenced to 20 months in BGF case," Feb. 27).

I watched the Fox coverage of the Conservative Political Action Conference or CPAC and heard all the vitriol in speeches from the hopeful candidates attacking Hillary Clinton. Now, I find Jonah Goldberg getting his two cents in The Sun ("Hillary Clinton's identity crisis," Feb. 27).

Democrats are telling Republicans to put the American people first and pass a clean Department of Homeland Security funding bill because Democratic senators will not accept anything other than a clean bill ("Congress OKs deal to avoid shutdown at Homeland Security," Feb. 27). Republicans say...